July 24, 2013

I know you're probably on pins and needles waiting for more news of that poor royal baby (whose future seems bloody awful to me). But between newsflashes of each regal poop, here's a quick post about my own less distinguished news... which you should also NOT care about.

Looks like I've got another mouth to feed. Meet Rufus.

Rufus appeared last Monday on a rainy day and dove into the food bowl like a hungry dog. He's still underweight but starting to fill out although as of today he's two gonads lighter. According to the vet, he's about a year old but he looks younger since he's so scrawny.

He's disease and testicle-free and has all the usual shots and vaccines to the tune of over $200. Good grief!

I need another cat like I need a hole in my head but here he is. Scissor reacted like I imagine I reacted when my little brother appeared and so far there have been no major incidents. The orange outside cat is far less concerned although not exactly welcoming. I think we've reached an acceptable state of toleration.

I guess I'll just resign myself to being 'that creepy guy down the block with all the cats.'

Meanwhile, I've been inspired to draw some new cat stamps. They are in the engraving stage so maybe by the end of the month... stay tuned.

July 22, 2013

You didn't really think I could put away the house stamps without turning them into Texas houses, did you?

I used colored pencils to make the flag on the roof. The Mini Texas and Multiple Texas stamps fill in the tree with Texas-shaped leaves.

What, you don't have trees with leaves shaped like your state?

I stamped a lot of random Texas images on white card stock along with the Wood Background stamp and then stamped House #1 right on top, cut it out and stamped the house again on another piece to get the windows and door. I embossed the star and cut it out. It's rare that you'll drive through a neighborhood and NOT see at least one house with a Texas star on the front.

We're a little crazy about our state down here... despite our idiot politicians.

The sunset comes from the Long Texture stamp in Dandelion, Tangelo, Rose Bud and Bahama Blue Memento inks.

I stamped the Bluebonnet Set stamps and cut them out in a long strip. House #3 is also cut out as well as a sidewalk. I drew the flag pole and cut out the Small Texas Flag. Once I finished it, I realized that it made it look like a post office or school house. Next time I'll put the flag pole on the house!

What, you don't fly your state's flag outside your house?

The Live Love Texas is in the sky stamped in Colorbox Frost White - but as I was stamping it, I dropped the damn stamp so to hide my mistake I kept overstamping it. I'll add the same sentiment to the inside of the card and it will look like I meant to do it!

July 20, 2013

Just a quickie today - I'm trying to get out to the tennis court by 9 a.m. when I would really be just as happy in bed!

Here's one using just a part of House #1. If I weren't so disorganized, I would have used a fancy die to cut out a more interesting shape. The house and sky were colored with colored pencils. I stamped the House Key on the other piece in Memento Tangelo, Rose Bud and Lilac Posies.

Here's a hippie house complete with a Beetle in the driveway.

And a party house on a tall card. The party flags and a couple of the balloons were cut out and popped up on foam tape. The 'grass' is just a green pad dragged across the card.

July 19, 2013

As promised, here are some Halloween houses. All three of the new houses are large enough so that you can decorate them without going blind from cutting out minuscule embellishments. I used the Candy List Background on the house and shaded the roof darker for contrast. The porch, front door and windows were stamped on black card stock with a Colorbox Frost White pad and cut out.

This one is done in reverse with a black house and the windows cut out on white and stuck on. There is also a skull peeking out of the opened front door like in the one below.

Here is the Candy List Background stamp again on the house. You could mask the windows but I think it's just as easy to stamp them again, cut them out and stick them on top. An exacto knife makes the door open.I'm sure you've got plenty of holiday embellishments, charms, stickers, etc. that would fit to make these houses perfect for any season or occasion. A wreath on the door and a Christmas Tree in the window? Maybe Santa on the roof? A U.S. flag makes it patriotic and some eggs in the front yard turns it into an Easter house. Or if you have teenagers, maybe a tree full of toilet paper! More tomorrow but in the meantime, they are finally on the website HERE. And if your local stamp store hasn't ordered them yet, ask them why the heck not?!

July 17, 2013

Back in April at the big Stamp Lauderdale Retreat in Salado, Margarita taught this canvas class using some of the new house stamps. She used paints and stencils and gesso and tissue paper all to create the bright beautiful canvas below.

So of course I had to try my hand at something similar. I tried to simplify things and in the process ended up with way more chaos. Not my style at all but it was a fun experiment. For this one I used pages torn from a phone book - does anyone use a phone book anymore? Can anyone even SEE the small type in a phone book? There are also parts of a map and some random scraps of paper. Everything was stamped and either cut out or torn and then layered on with Mod Podge. I added some acrylic paints for grass and sky and used Staz-on ink so that the Mod Podge wouldn't smear.

This one is similar but I used patterned scrapbook paper as a background and stamped some of the images on tissue paper which sort of disappears when Mod Podge is added. You could really personalize these by using a map of your neighborhood or by stamping your zip code or address somewhere on the canvas.Up next will be some Halloween houses. Can you believe that Halloween is just over 3 months away? Meanwhile, the dreaded Hobby Lobby has their Christmas crap out already. Good grief.

July 15, 2013

I made the mistake of using some very old Stickles to add some glitter to the roof line and front door. It was so old that it wasn't even called Stickles.... some off brand from years ago. Needless to say it didn't work very well and went right in the trash but not before it gooped up the front door and roof trim. For the background, I stamped all three houses in different Memento inks. I like the way they look overlapped - sort of like an abstract neighborhood.

The key is embossed in silver and punched with a Marvy punch. I added the dots around the scallops with a silver paint pen. I love the combination of Memento Pear Tart and Danube Blue.

And finally, another paper-pieced house with some old scraps I had lying around. Literally (litter-ally?... someone really needs to clean up around here). The Tree For All Reasons and Iron Fence are behind and I threw in a hot air balloon for no particular reason.

These will be on the website later this week so you can start your own neighborhood or real estate empire.

July 12, 2013

There's no place like home, or so they say. Actually your home is probably very much like my home only with more square footage and probably inhabited by more people. But I doubt I would feel as comfortable walking around naked in your home. At least at first.

Anyway, here is a preview of some new house-themed stamps which will be available sometime next week. I'm still working on sample cards and a flyer to send to the stores who carry Deadbeat Designs stamps but in the meantime, I thought I would post a few cards as I get them done. On this one, I dragged some Memento pads across the paper to get the color.

There are three new quirky houses which are kind of big. I wanted them large enough so that you could paper piece them or decorate them for different seasons. And when I say 'you' I mean ME since there's no way I'm going to cut out a microscopic wreath for the door for Christmas or cut out a tiny door so that it can open. There's also a row of smaller houses and the word "HOME" as well as a house key. On this card I included a zip code to personalize it, in this case for Stamp Asylum in Plano. The old Wood Background stamp gives the house texture.

Here's the third house - more of a bungalow. Also the sentiment is a quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House On The Prairie fame. This one was paper-pieced with some text from an old book. A map of your neighborhood would also work.Like I said, these will be on the website next week and in stores as soon as they place orders for them. If you're going to the Grapevine convention next weekend, Stamp Asylum will have a few of the all of the new stamps for those of you crazy enough to get there early. I'll think of you when I roll my lazy butt out of bed at 9 a.m. or so.

July 03, 2013

Hippocampus is the genus of fish known more commonly as the seahorse. I really wanted to call this stamp Hippo-Stampus but I figured people would be confused when they didn't find a big, fat, grinning hippopotamus. Life is confusing enough.

So "Seahorse" it is. I designed it originally for Paper Source who very kindly sells it in their stores. In fact, they are having a mail art contest which you can find out about HERE. It's the perfect excuse to use your Deadbeat Designs stamps! If you don't have a Paper Source in your area, you can now find the Seahorse stamp HERE on my website and soon at a rubber stamp store near you!

Here are a few similar yet very different cards using it. This one is stamped with various overlapping colors of Memento inks with one in Rose Bud popped up with foam tape.

This one is embossed in white and punched with a Marvy punch and the Swirly Birthday is stamped with a Calypso Kaleiadacolor pad... which is still on my desk ever since I made the Swirls video in the last post. I really need to straighten up!

For this card, I stamped the Seahorse in Teal Zeal, Peanut Brittle and Morocco inks (Memento). I love the color combination and how they look layered. The Seas The Day is the perfect sentiment, also in Teal Zeal.

As I mentioned before, Diane is teaching Bodacious Backgrounds at Stamp Salado on Saturday, July 27. There's a rumor that another date will be added so if you are interested, give Nancy a call!

In other news, the Stamp Lauderdale Retreat in September is shaping up nicely. We have quite a few sign ups already and Lynn says that the ocean-view rooms at the hotel are filing up. We are keeping the classes small so if you are interested, don't wait too long! Space is limited!